Bill Paxton's lost "Twister 2", what could've been.
Paxton is from the south and had always been interested in tornados, a fascination that only grew after starring in Twister. However, after doing tons of research in meteorology, Paxton discovered just how unfactual and incorrect the science of tornados are portrayed, growing him to dislike the movie. Over the years, Paxton actually penned a supposed sequel to Twister that he would write, produce, direct, and of course star in.
The project originally developed as a historical biography about the 1925 Tri-State tornado, a storm cell that took the lives of over 500 people, making it the most deadly twister in American history. Paxton pitched his idea but nobody was interested, mainly because the budget would have to be very high, and they feared the film would bomb because nobody had ever heard of the disaster. Paxton was, however, suggested to rewrite the script into modern times and perhaps even turn it into a sequel to Twister, which is exactly what he did. In 2009, Paxton publicly announced that he would be working on Twister 2, and that the film would be released in the summer of 2012 in 3D. 2012 came and went with not a single mention of Twister 2.
Paxton's plan was that the film would revolve around one large tornado that tore through three states. It's confirmed that Texas and Oklahoma were two of the states, and it's possible that Kansas or Missouri might have been the third. Paxton's character of Bill Harding would have been a main character, as would've Harding's son, who would be played by a young adult actor. Scott Thompson and Todd Field's characters from the first film had been confirmed to return, and it was also rumored that Helen Hunt would be reprising her role, though this has not been confirmed. Paxton also wanted the film to have an R-rating, as it would focus less on the tornado and more on the people affected by the tornado and how it affects their lives. Bill's plan was to make the film as realistic as possible, which would be aided by actual meteorologists that were hired to scan the script for errors.
Paxton stated the project would not be moving forward because of multiple factors. 1: Lack of interest in Twister. 2: A very high budget. 3: Paxton wanted the film to have an R-rating, which caused some issues with producers. 4: Paxton wanted to use the same 3D cameras that his friend James Cameron used in Avatar. Warner Bros shelved the project but did not cancel it. When it was announced that Fox would be moving forward with Independence Day 2 and 3, Warner Bros also quietly brought Twister 2 off the shelf and made Paxton a deal: if ID2 performs well, then Twister 2 would go into production, BUT only if the film had a PG-13 rating. Paxton agreed, and all they had to do was sit back and wait...
...of course, Independence Day: Resurgence was a box office dud and a critical disaster; while it made just enough money to break even, it was still seen as a massive disappointment, which resulted in ID3 getting canned. With this, Warner Bros saw very little interest in a sequel to Twister, and too canned the project. Hope was with Bill Paxton, however, as he still desired to get the film made.
Unfortunately, Bill Paxton passed away in February of 2017, closing the book to whatever potential sequel Twister could've had. Who knows, maybe in an alternate universe, we could have a sequel to Twister that was not only a far better movie than the original, but also respectful to the scientific community, and could maybe be hailed as one of the few logical blockbusters ever put to screen. We'll likely never know.
RIP Bill Paxton.